14 May 2002
Wolf Discusses Revised Iraq Sanctions
(Deems new system no obstacle to sale of civilian goods) (1070)
Washington -- The United Nations Security Council has again
demonstrated its intention to meet the needs of the Iraqi people by
effectively lifting U.N. controls on civilian goods for export to
Iraq, the State Department's top nonproliferation official says.
The Security Council May 14 unanimously passed Resolution 1409, which
adopts a new export control system on Iraq for implementation as part
of the humanitarian program in Iraq, beginning May 30. Assistant
Secretary of State for Nonproliferation John Wolf agreed to be
interviewed for the Washington File on the passage of the new Goods
Review List, which makes possible the shipment of a much larger amount
of civilian goods to Iraq.
Equally important for meeting the needs of the Iraqi people, according
to Wolf, is that the new system will allow for partial fulfillment of
contracts, so that the presence of one objectionable item in a
contract does not prevent all other civilian items from being shipped
to Iraq.
Wolf said that under the revised system, U.N. agencies, the United
Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC)
and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will review all
contracts and approve, without review by the sanctions committee,
purely civilian items for export to Iraq.
The United Nations will refer to the Sanctions Committee only those
items covered by the Goods Review List (GRL), Wolf noted. This list
covers those dual-use items that Iraq could easily use to support its
efforts to reconstitute its conventional military, ballistic missile,
nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons programs, he said.
The new system also maintains without change the total ban on the
export to Iraq of any military goods or services under paragraph 24 of
UNSC Resolution 687, Wolf said.
The United Nations will have the authority to approve all other items
for shipment to Iraq with minimal delay and without review by the
Sanctions Committee, he added.
Taken as a whole, Wolf said, the GRL and the implementing procedures
make clear to all nations and to all companies those items that pose a
potential military threat and which will receive intensive scrutiny
before shipment to Iraq.
The Security Council's broad support for continued controls on Iraq
is, for Wolf, yet another reminder that Iraq is in violation of its
U.N. obligations and poses a threat to the Iraqi people, the region
and international peace and security.
The United States continues to believe that the only effective and
lasting way to end this threat is through a change of government in
Baghdad, Wolf said.
Wolf's interview follows:
(begin interview)
Washington File: How is this Goods Review List different from the old
one?
Assistant Secretary Wolf: Refinements were made to both the GRL and
implementing procedures.
Examples of refinements to the GRL include modifications to the
entries on biological growth media, lasers, telecommunications, and
chemical sprayers.
Clarifications were also made to the responsibilities of the U.N.
office of Iraq programs, UNMOVIC and IAEA.
The implementing procedures stipulate that items, not complete
contracts, will be blocked if there are military concerns. As a
result, suppliers will be able to ship a much larger amount of
civilian goods to Iraq.
We have also sought to ensure that no contract or item is delayed
because of U.N. or Sanctions Committee inaction. The procedures
institute clear deadlines for the U.N. and the Sanctions Committee to
conduct its evaluation.
Q: What did the United States do to make this happen?
A: Extensive consultations have taken place among Security Council
members since resolution 1382 was passed in November 2001. The United
States has worked intensively with other permanent members of the
Security Council, in particular with the Russian Federation, to refine
the GRL and the U.N. review procedures. We have also engaged other
council members to maintain the consensus that supported resolution
1382.
Our bilateral meetings with the Russians were productive. Based on the
progress we made with Moscow, broader consultations took place in New
York in order to reach final agreement by the full Security Council.
The Security Council, in turn, moved quickly to complete the agreement
and adopt the new export control system.
Q: How will it improve the daily lives of ordinary Iraqi citizens?
A: Much will depend on the actions of the Iraqi government. The new
export control system makes clear that the international community
interposes no obstacles to the sale of purely civilian goods to Iraq.
But Iraq has shown a consistent pattern of diverting goods intended
for civilian use to the military and to supporters of the regime.
Under the new approach, a greater number of contracts will be
processed faster, since fewer are subject to review by the Sanctions
Committee; and the U.N. decision-making process for all contracts will
be smoother, leading to faster decisions to approve or not approve.
These changes are intended to provide the Iraqi government every
ability to meet the needs of the Iraqi people. There should be no
misunderstanding: the international community has taken every possible
step to help the Iraqi people. These changes will further highlight
that the situation of the Iraqi people is due to the regime's
subversion of the U.N. system intended to provide for their
well-being. With this simple process for civilian goods in place,
there can be no excuse for evasion of the focused controls aimed at
preventing the Iraqi regime's re-armament.
Q: How is Kurdish northern Iraq faring under current U.N. sanctions,
compared to the regions under Saddam's control?
A: Leaders and individual Iraqi citizens living in northern Iraq say
the U.N. Oil-For-Food Program has been an outstanding success. It has
laid the basis for a social and economic renaissance in the north.
U.N. reporting states there is no malnutrition or starvation in
northern Iraq.
The stark reason for the overwhelming success of the Oil-For-Food
Program in northern Iraq and the situation in central and southern
Iraq is simple. In the north, United Nations officials working
hand-in-hand with local authorities have made the program a success
because they are working in the interests of the Iraqi people.
Saddam's regime subverts the Oil-For-Food Program in central and
southern Iraq for its own political purposes without concern for the
overall good of the Iraqi people.
(end interview)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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